Samuel Ball, PhD, professor of psychiatry and deputy chair for career development for the Department of Psychiatry, will assume the role of deputy dean for academic affairs in the Office of Academic and Professional Development (OAPD) at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), effective July 1. Working closely with department chairs, other deputy deans, and the Office of the Provost, Ball will oversee the YSM faculty lifecycle, including hiring and onboarding, appointments and promotions, professional development, and leave and retirement policies, ensuring they align with the Yale University Faculty Handbook and are efficient, equitable, and transparent.
Since completing his clinical psychology fellowship and joining the medical school faculty in 1990, Ball has made important contributions to the YSM community through various clinical, educational, and scientific leadership roles. In 2019, he was selected to serve as associate dean for faculty affairs, and with Jonathan Grauer, MD, associate dean for faculty affairs, worked with Linda Bockenstedt, MD, the current deputy dean for academic affairs, to develop and implement policies, procedures, and processes for appointment and promotion. He also served as a liaison to chairs and faculty affairs leaders of several departments, working to enhance mentoring, career development, and well-being resources for faculty and trainees/students.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he developed and directed a 1:1 professional support provider services program for Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Health System health care workers and their families. More recently, he led efforts to improve several procedures related to promotion reviews.
A trained mentor and professional coach, Ball has extensive experience consulting with early and mid-career faculty and departmental leaders on promotion performance expectations, planning, and readiness. He coordinated the development of OAPD’s early career faculty development seminar series and helped lead the assessment of clinical and educational excellence for the Academic Clinician track and the incorporation of organizational service activities into promotion documents and review processes. Recently, he led a two-year strategic planning process on improving underrepresented in medicine (URiM) faculty development in his department. He is committed to the career development and advancement of URiM and women in medicine faculty.
Ball’s clinical, training, and research expertise is the diagnosis and treatment of patients with addiction and co-occurring personality disorders. He developed and conducted several clinical trials using a specialized psychotherapy for these complex patients. He also founded and directed a specialized residential treatment program for high-functioning professionals and executives suffering from these disorders. Concurrent with his departmental leadership roles over the past 30 years, he held senior or executive leadership positions at YSM-affiliated non-profit clinical, research, and policy organizations, including the APT Foundation, Silver Hill Hospital, and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
Ball received his undergraduate degree in psychology and English from Colgate University and his MA and PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Delaware before completing his clinical psychology fellowship at YSM.